NCB arrests Sushant Singh Rajput’s flatmate in Hyderabad

Siddharth Pithani has been arrested on multiple charges, like consumption of drugs, financing illicit traffic and harbouring offenders and punishment for abetment and criminal conspiracy of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act

Late actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s flatmate Siddharth Pithani, who was arrested from Hyderabad earlier this week, has been remanded to custody till June 1 for further investigation in the purported drug abuse link to the death of the late actor.

Sushant Singh Rajput. (HT archvie)

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) arrested Pithani on May 25 on multiple charges, like consumption of drugs, financing illicit traffic and harbouring offenders and punishment for abetment and criminal conspiracy of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS Act).

Pithani was the one who reportedly found the actor dead in his bedroom on June 14, 2020. The NCB issued him a notice under section 67 of the NDPS Act, asking him to join the investigation but he did not honour the notice, said zonal director Sameer Wankhede of the NCB, Mumbai.

An NCB team from Mumbai went to Hyderabad where they arrested Pithani with the help of the local bureau team. He was produced in a Hyderabad court and was brought to Mumbai on Thursday on transit remand. Pithani was produced in the court in Mumbai on Friday and remanded in custody till June 1 for further investigation.

Earlier this month, on May 7, the NCB arrested Hemant Shah alias Maharaj from Miramar, Panjim, in Goa for his alleged role in the actor’s death case. Maharaj’s name had cropped up during an operation in a local seizure case. Shah had allegedly supplied drugs to two local suppliers, Anuj Keshwani and Regal Mahakaal, who were arrested in September and December, last year, respectively, in the drug probe related to the actor’s death. Keshwani and Mahakaal had revealed Shah’s involvement in the supply of drugs.

NCB filed a charge sheet in first week of March and named 33 accused, including the late actor’s girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty. This charge sheet contained statements of 200 witnesses.

The agency also recorded statements of Bollywood actors Deepika Padukone, Rakul Preet Singh, and Sara Ali Khan during their probe.